Dominican Republic History

The island of Hispaniola was discovered by Columbus in 1492. Two centuries later the western part of the island got under French control, the east was controlled by the Spanish. After the collapse of French rule all the territory of the island became Spanish colony. There was unsuccessful attempt to proclaim the independence of Santo Domingo. But on 27 February 1844, the territory of Santo Domingo declared independence once again, this time permanently, as the Dominican Republic. The country suffered greatly from many years of civil war, dictatorship and US occupation. The Dominican Republic became reasonably stable under the control of President Joaquin Balaguer. Nowadays the Dominican Republic is a member of CARICOM, the major regional trading bloc.